MD445

Just FYI, I’m a musician/studio engineer with (too many) years under my belt. I own half the mics mankind has ever made, and I’ve toyed around with the other half.I’m writing this review primarily because there are so few comments about this mic on Amazon (and the internet in general) - which is confusing because this is a great mic.Things to know:- the eq on this mic is unique in the sennheiser family. It’s richer than the 835 (not so much warmer, just feels cleaner), and not as bright the 935/45. I’d actually compare the out of the box sound to the Neumann 102, but with a little more low end pre-eq. When I run my voice (male) through it I have to make a pretty drastic cut all the way up to about 127hz to clean it up. BUT it’s not a bad thing. I’d rather have realistic frequency response from the mic than not. And that’s what I’d say is best about this mic. It sounds REAL. it gives an accurate reproduction of whoever you put it in front of.- quick note on the gain setting for this mic…I was frustrated with this mic for five minutes when I plugged it into my setup because it seemed lackluster compared to my 945 and even my Shure KSM8 - which is a pretty dull sounding mic in my opinion. The reason? This mic needs about 20% more gain than most mics. Almost like a ribbon mic. I used one of my inline preamps that adds 30db via 48v and that helped a lot. But even bringing the gain on your board up to about 70% works fine.- which brings us to the next great thing about this mic: it’s off axis rejection, and gain before feedback. Compared to my other mics, even my super cardioid mics, this mic does way better in the feedback department. It DOES have a big proximity effect. You really have to get up in its grill or you lose volume/clarity quickly. That said, it also rejects stage noise phenomenally. I recorded a live set with a roaring electric guitar 8’ from this mic and when I soloed the vocal on playback you couldn’t even hear it. Honestly I’d pay $500 for that alone.Frankly, I haven’t found a serious con yet. All together, this is a VERY GOOD mic. It’s become a go to for me. It’s always on stage, never sits in my mic cabinet. I highly recommend.Hope that helps :)

I have used Sennheisers for years for miking everything from rock bands to chamber music to theatrical productions. The rest of my everyday mikes are workhorse e935's and e945's, which always get complements from the artists I work with for their incredible clarity and definition. I decided to bite the bullet and buy the top dog, the MD445. Definitely worth the money. I recently used it to mike a refined alto-soprano singer and the results were amazing; the clarity and high end of a condenser with the warmth and durability of a dynamic. I also have an e965, but this mike will definitely get more use.